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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Care-Wear: How Innovation Gives Us That “Warm and Fuzzy” Feeling




While most college students are out partying and hoping they’ll be awake in time for the next day’s afternoon lecture, Veronika Scott is quite the exception!

A junior at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Scott is fabricating a garment with the city’s 18,000 plus homeless people in mind.

The Element S(urvival) Coat is a self-heated and waterproof jacket that also has the capacity of transforming into a sleeping bag. Anticipating the cold harsh Michigan weather that loom ahead, the ESC couldn't have come at a more opportune time for the needy this holiday season!

So how exactly does this wonder coat heat itself? It’s quite simple really! The jacket is made from the same stuff that keeps your house warm this winter: insulation. The outside of the garment is lined using Tyvek home insulation while the inside contains a winter-season favorite, polar fleece.

Carhartt, a Dearborn based work clothing company was so impressed with the design that they kindly donated an industrial sewing machine, 300 yards of lining, thread, cutters and pattern material. This donation should cover the first twenty five coats which Scott will eagerly hand out upon their creation.

Scott has deemed her project, The Empowerment Plan,”where she will put the homeless to work in making the coats with the sole benefit of being able to keep them when they’re finished. Both parties win, and no one goes cold...Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

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